How hard is it for the DEA to have an honest conversation about drugs? Below is testimony from the director. Note the incoherence.

“Is crack worse for a person than marijuana?” Polis asked Leonhart.

“I believe all illegal drugs are bad,” Leonhart answered.

Polis continued, asking whether methamphetamines and heroin were worse for a person’s health than marijuana.

“Again, all drugs, they’re illegal drugs,” Leonhart started, before being cut off by Polis.

“Yes, no, or I don’t know?” Polis said. “If you don’t know, you can look this up. You should know this as the chief administrator for the Drug Enforcement Agency. I’m asking a very straightforward question: Is heroin worse for someone’s health than marijuana?”

Leonhart ducked again, repeating, “All illegal drugs are bad.”

Since assuming the head position at the DEA, Leonhart has made controlling prescription drug abuse the top priority, a stance she had laid out so aggressively that it led one Democratic senator to block her confirmation.

I imagine she’s concerned about getting trapped, but come on! Reasonable people can disagree on drug policy, but only if we don’t respond to disagreement by being unreasonable.